Brief report: Neurocognitive functioning in adolescents following childhood maltreatment and evidence for underlying planning & organizational deficits

Abstract

Children and adolescents with a history of childhood maltreatment are at risk for a host of psychiatric conditions, although the underlying neurocognitive functioning of these individuals remains largely understudied. This study examined the neurocognitive functioning of childhood maltreatment victims in an adolescent psychiatric inpatient setting. The sample consisted of adolescent inpatients (ages 13–19) that completed intellectual testing as part of a neuropsychological/psychological assessment during hospitalization (n = 39). The sample was grouped based on childhood maltreatment history with one group categorized by maltreatment history (n = 15) and the other group characterized by no maltreatment history (n = 24). Analyses revealed statistically significant differences (p < .01) between maltreatment groups on the majority of assessed domains. When controlling for intelligence, only performance differences on the RCFT remained. RCFT differences remained after controlling for the influence of visual-motor and visual-perceptual/visual-spatial functioning, highlighting the influence of organizational and planning difficulties in those individuals with maltreatment history. Group differences in the frequency of impaired performance for neuropsychological tasks were largest (p < .001) for FSIQ and RCFT. Compromised neurocognitive functioning may negatively contribute to the clinical presentation of this population, highlighting the importance of the child neuropsychologist in the effective treatment of children and adolescents with a history of childhood maltreatment.

Keywords:

• Neurocognitive
• Executive
• Adolescents
• Inpatient
• Maltreatment